[PS2] Final Fantasy XII

Originally Posted by seanne

If you're at lv.99 with three of your characters you shouldn't have any problems with the Hell Wyrm (specially considering that you can leave the battle at any time and resume it after healing).

Damn, that's awesome. One question though: I've heard that if you leave for too long, Hell Wyrm and Yiazmat will get all their HP back. Is this true?

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Yiazmat is another story though. The main problem with this battle is the status effects he gives you all the time, including lots of Death. I see you've got the Ribbon though - that will certainly come in handy in this battle (though does it protect against Death as well?).

I'm going to try and get another one from Henne, but yeah, it really helps against monsters where the main bulk of their attacks and threat lies in status inducing attacks. Oh, and it doesn't protect against Death. Think of that spell as a convenient "Instant KO" status attack. KO and HP critical are the only two things it doesn't guard against. But I'll have bubble belts on, will it really get that crazy that I'll want to throw the Ribbon on whomever is about to eat a Stop/Disease/etc..?

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It can be pretty nervracking, since he has such a crazy amount of HP and you might find yourself with a lot to do, even with your Gambits set.

Oh, DAMN. This clown has ~50 million HP! He has 7 bars of health right? I just did some quick bad maths and it came out to around 7,142,857 points of HP per bar. It'll be like almost killing Hell Wyrm every bar, jeez.

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Omega was also a real pain. His attacks are truly deadly and can easily take you down in one hit if you're not careful (sufficiently leveled/properly equipped). This could just the most difficult battle in the game - though if you make use of Reverse in the right way (sort of like you mentioned) you should be able to defeat him easier than what might have been intended. Reverse is almost too good, I think.

Reverse, I've heard, is a game breaking spell. But it does have a flaw in that it doesn't last all that long. If you equip whomever is going to the the Reversed Lure with vitality stat increasing items (Cat-Ear Hood for example), it'll last longer (as will any beneficial status effect).

Another question: I saw some people complaining that his attacks often berserk his victim, this would be a boon in my situation, no? He'd bump the attack and attack speed of someone who is getting healed by damage. Later today I'm going to go in and try Hell Wyrm with everyone set to Reverse with one person as the lure.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I just beat the orthos hunt, what use does the blackened fragment have, and where are the other 3?????

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by SOLDIER_2825

I just beat the orthos hunt, what use does the blackened fragment have, and where are the other 3?????

You have to get the other 3 in order to complete a medallion. A little sidequest is involved, where you have to go to a certain map in the Deadlands to get the other 2 medallions. Once you have all three, you can fight the bosses behind the doors in the Necrol of Nabudis. One of which is an Esper (Chaos).

FELIPE NO

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Damn, that's awesome. One question though: I've heard that if you leave for too long, Hell Wyrm and Yiazmat will get all their HP back. Is this true?

No, but it seems they will cast regen on themselves if you run around in the same area without attacking them for a while, and uh....they regen a lot per tick.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Cetra

No, but it seems they will cast regen on themselves if you run around in the same area without attacking them for a while, and uh....they regen a lot per tick.

.....

Jesus Christ, they really went out of their way to make these guys just absurd, eh? Well, I've got damn good news:

Reverse + Lure works like a bloody charm. Ran in there with Balthier inflicted with those two, and Penelo and Vaan (Durandal + Demon Shield) were set to refresh Reverse and Lure respectively. I took off what looked to be a decent chunk and left.

So you're telling me there's a good chance that they can just regen themselves in the time it took me to get to the save point and save?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Metal Sphere

So you're telling me there's a good chance that they can just regen themselves in the time it took me to get to the save point and save?

Na, AI is only active when you are in the same area. For example, if you run around the tunnels of the arena for a while, Yiazmat will eventually start buffing himself including throwing up a regen. He seems to be coded to do this only if he's not able to attack someone I'm sure mostly to prevent using his size against him by making use of the tunnels as cover. If you are in another area, the game just stores his current HP and it will always be set to that value once you return to the arena.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Cetra

Na, AI is only active when you are in the same area. For example, if you run around the tunnels of the arena for a while, Yiazmat will eventually start buffing himself including throwing up a regen. He seems to be coded to do this only if he's not able to attack someone I'm sure mostly to prevent using his size against him by making use of the tunnels as cover. If you are in another area, the game just stores his current HP and it will always be set to that value once you return to the arena.

Ah, okay. That seems much more reasonable than what I was assuming. Looks like it's best not to fool around near them so they won't do that. Seanne was right about Hell Wyrm, thing isn't all that tough (especially at my level). I've got the second team at level 99 finally, so that's some added insurance.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Regarding the Zodiac Spear, I just learned that your only chance to procure it is not opening certain treasure chests in the game. I've already completed the Giruvegan crystal and naturally opened all treasure chests I've encountered so far. Do I still have a chance to get the spear?

Damn, this is pissing me off.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Rock

Regarding the Zodiac Spear, I just learned that your only chance to procure it is not opening certain treasure chests in the game. I've already completed the Giruvegan crystal and naturally opened all treasure chests I've encountered so far. Do I still have a chance to get the spear?

Yes, but it's ridiculously fucking small. In the Special Charter Dig map, the one just before you fight Zodiark (infested with level 62+ monsters), there's a little nook in which a treasure chest may appear. Now, I don't remember the exact percent but I believe it's something like 90% of the time it won't be there, 5% of the time it'll be gil and the other 5% it'll be either an Elixer or the spear.

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Damn, this is pissing me off.

Tell me about it, it infuriated me too, but you'll make do. The spear is likely slower than the Tournesol and probably not as good (the evasion alone makes The Sunflower real nice). What really ticked me off was missing the fucking Genji gloves which would've made Franamune into a comboing machine.

Though if you want to get annoyed/irritated, try getting the Bombshell rare game at the Lasche span in Lhusu Mines to drop the Yagyu Darkblade (best ninja sword in the game). You can't chain them because of:

• Godforsaken Aeronites
• Pestering Vampyrs

I was speaking idiomatically.

At least I know where to get the Genji equipment. Are there any other things you can miss and that'll be gone forever?

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Rock

At least I know where to get the Genji equipment. Are there any other things you can miss and that'll be gone forever?

Hmm, not that I know of. I'm basically a step away from finishing the game, so if I've missed something that can't be found elsewhere, I'm screwed. I think it's only the Zodiac Spear and Genji gear. Oh, IIRC, in the Great Crystal there's a chest that if you get the Zodiac Escutcheon in it, you won't get the Brave Suit from it, ever.

But that can be found in a chest in Henne Mines (that's where I found mine, along with a Ribbon). Also, the rare game that drop trophies often have very good/rare items to steal. An example of this is Arioch in the Nabreus Deadlands. Kill all the enemies on that map and wait a bit near the empty part where the Deadbones usually spawn and you'll find him. If you're doing the Phon Coast hunt thing, once he's dead, that's it. You can get Sage's Ring from him that cuts MP costs in half and absorbs holy element attacks.

So steal from him, and move a screen away, back again and steal until you're satisfied.

If you kill him without getting it, you're going to have to rely on luck while milling around the Henne Mines, which isn't fun.

FELIPE NO

I have the Bradygames guide here, although I've only been using it for information on some of the hunts. It has some neat treasure chest tables, though. I guess I'll be using them to get some nice stuff once I'm done with the main storyline.

I've done a lot of hunts and leveling throughout the game, so normal bosses aren't much of a challenge for my already Lv. 60+ party. I might pay the Henne Mines or the Deadlands a visit next.

Oh and I still have to get the Barheim Passage key.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Rock

I have the Bradygames guide here, although I've only been using it for information on some of the hunts. It has some neat treasure chest tables, though. I guess I'll be using them to get some nice stuff once I'm done with the main storyline.

Lucky you, much easier than my back-and-forth between numerous FAQs. One thing though: The information on Omega is wrong, he doesn't have 10 million in the U.S. version. It's been reduced to a 1/10 of that, but all that means is that the battle doesn't last as long.

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I've done a lot of hunts and leveling throughout the game, so normal bosses aren't much of a challenge for my already Lv. 60+ party. I might pay the Henne Mines or the Deadlands a visit next.

Yeah, drop by the deadlands. You could gain ~25 levels easily there and the rest of the hunts will give you enough to level into the 90s, especially the God or Devil? hunt. All those Bunes, Necrofiends, Dragon Lichs, etc... Amazing experience without the Tippets on (and I suggest you keep them off while you're down there, unless you want to die a swift death).

Henne? Don't go in there just yet, you're going to get slaughtered. I'm at 99 with both teams, 1 Grand Armor on Penelo, Maximillians on everyone else and the Abysteels still do 2k+ with Leech right through Protectga. Now, without Bubble Chains, that's a good chunk of her 5,700 max HP. Throw in that they often travel in pairs and parry your attacks very often, and you'll be bleeding HP.

Not to mention, all the awesome goodies are in the Special Charter map, literally overflowing with Etems. The area itself has them half-invisible, constantly roaming the map and they sometimes make themselves known to you at random. Then there's the necrofiends they often turn into when they die and you basically double the amount of enemies there.

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Oh and I still have to get the Barheim Passage key.

No Zalera yet? I don't think I tried it before getting ole Z, but can you go in through the back entrance or is it "locked" until you enter Garamsythe from Barheim?

Edit: Yet another link to previous titles that I was too dense to notice at first:

Mateus - Human Totema
Famfrit - Moogle Totema
Adrammelech - Bangaa Totema
Exodus - Viera Totema

I'm not sure about the last one, because I've never really got a good look at it, but the others are pretty much on the money. Heck, Mateus even does a Frost Wave-ish attack when you use him.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

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Henne? Don't go in there just yet, you're going to get slaughtered. I'm at 99 with both teams, 1 Grand Armor on Penelo, Maximillians on everyone else and the Abysteels still do 2k+ with Leech right through Protectga. Now, without Bubble Chains, that's a good chunk of her 5,700 max HP. Throw in that they often travel in pairs and parry your attacks very often, and you'll be bleeding HP.

Hrm, I went there at around level 65 and didn't have much issue. I beat both Yiazmat and Omega at level 79 with my secondary team being a max of level 20 without much of a issue as well. Good Cure and Arise gambit setup pretty much make it impossible to get wiped out in this game. Enemies that use Curse were the only ones I ever had a major problem with.

Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by Cetra

Hrm, I went there at around level 65 and didn't have much issue. I beat both Yiazmat and Omega at level 79 with my secondary team being a max of level 20 without much of a issue as well.

You're a brave man, but I still wouldn't recommend it. Henne's second area is brutal and I'm wondering what you're idea of "without much issue" is, heh. Enemies often miss when you're at a higher level than they are, which is a boon in this case (fewer status effects).

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Good Cure and Arise gambit setup pretty much make it impossible to get wiped out in this game. Enemies that use Curse were the only ones I ever had a major problem with.

Arise? The spell is awful in situations that warrant its use since it takes too long, far longer than Phoenix Down + Curaja. I got around to finishing off Hell Wyrm today and this helped when I got into that last bit.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

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You're a brave man, but I still wouldn't recommend it. Henne's second area is brutal and I'm wondering what you're idea of "without much issue" is, heh. Enemies often miss when you're at a higher level than they are, which is a boon in this case (fewer status effects).

Enemy attack power is a non-issue with how I'm setup as long as they don't one-hit kill me. As I said, the only issues I had was with enemies that use Curse or use AE confuse. I have everyone set to use Curaja at <50% HP and everyone set to use Arise. I pretty much can just ignore damage output with the setup.

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Arise? The spell is awful in situations that warrant its use since it takes too long, far longer than Phoenix Down + Curaja. I got around to finishing off Hell Wyrm today and this helped when I got into that last bit.

No way, all spells have the same cast rate. It's going to take longer to use a Phoenix down and then cast Curaja. Arise set to a gambit will result in the person being revived before their death animation even finishes unless they are already in a casting cooldown.

Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by Cetra

Enemy attack power is a non-issue with how I'm setup as long as they don't one-hit kill me. As I said, the only issues I had was with enemies that use Curse or use AE confuse. I have everyone set to use Curaja at <50% HP and everyone set to use Arise. I pretty much can just ignore damage output with the setup.

Sure, if you're doing enough damage to replenish your MP via damage (attacks/spells). Maybe I simply had bad luck when I showed up there for the first time, because all the Abysteels do is Leech with a Sacrificial strike or whatnot when they're critical. Curaja @ <50% without Bubble Chain would likely make encounters very long. Of course, without the chain you can have the Cameo belt, negating their irritating parry tendencies.

I don't know, seems too easy to get locked into a perpetual Curaja healing cycle while they ream you.

Oh, something peculiar I've noticed: I only did this once, but I used the Nihoapaloa trick on an Etem and inflicted him with silence as well as a few other status effects. I figured that'd keep him from casting Stop, Death, etc...

Don't know what the deal is, but he was still able to cast his spells. Are they his techniques which aren't effected by silence, or actual spells? I know Trans-Dimensional rift is a kamikaze attack that kills the targeted character, but Death is a spell that should've been made inaccessible to it.

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No way, all spells have the same cast rate. It's going to take longer to use a Phoenix down and then cast Curaja. Arise set to a gambit will result in the person being revived before their death animation even finishes unless they are already in a casting cooldown.

Same thing happens with Phoenix Down, except that the cast rate is irrelevant. It's the animation that's the problem. That's the difference between Scathe and Ardor. It may take the same time for the bar to fill, but the actual effect takes place after the spell animation is done. That's why items take priority over spells in tight situations, or when you want to keep up with a particularly quick enemy.

Not to mention the instant the person is revived, Curaja+Haste will likely hit them soon after.

A good example oof this is Zodiark. He casts faster than you, but his spells all have shorter animations than normal, something that becomes easy to see when you see him cast Scathe.

I was speaking idiomatically.

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Sure, if you're doing enough damage to replenish your MP via damage (attacks/spells). Maybe I simply had bad luck when I showed up there for the first time, because all the Abysteels do is Leech with a Sacrificial strike or whatnot when they're critical. Curaja @ <50% without Bubble Chain would likely make encounters very long. Of course, without the chain you can have the Cameo belt, negating their irritating parry tendencies.

I don't know, seems too easy to get locked into a perpetual Curaja healing cycle while they ream you.

Oh, something peculiar I've noticed: I only did this once, but I used the Nihoapaloa trick on an Etem and inflicted him with silence as well as a few other status effects. I figured that'd keep him from casting Stop, Death, etc...

Don't know what the deal is, but he was still able to cast his spells. Are they his techniques which aren't effected by silence, or actual spells? I know Trans-Dimensional rift is a kamikaze attack that kills the targeted character, but Death is a spell that should've been made inaccessible to it.

Eh, I tore though all the enemies there using Excalibur and the Masamune. Nothing really got more than two attacks off considering I was hitting everything there for 9999 with the Excalibur and around 4500 with the Masamune. Hell I usually just set my mage to attack everything with Scathe for 9999 dmg as well since Charge gives you virtually unlimited mana. Scathe also has a nice side effect of locking down enemy attacks while the animation is playing.

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Same thing happens with Phoenix Down, except that the cast rate is irrelevant. It's the animation that's the problem. That's the difference between Scathe and Ardor. It may take the same time for the bar to fill, but the actual effect takes place after the spell animation is done. That's why items take priority over spells in tight situations, or when you want to keep up with a particularly quick enemy.

Arise has an instant animation. We're talking milliseconds of different between Arise and a phoenix down. Arise also brings them back up to full HP, so you aren't having to tie up two party members like you do when using a phoenix down + curaja. I found using phoenix downs way too dangerous because there is a high probability your other team member is locked into a cooldown and now you are dealing with a 3rd party member with low HP.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Bah...this sucks. I couldn't play FFXII for the last several days. My little sister has been hogging the TV and won't let me play. "You can play on Friday," she says to me. Great! That's the night I have my weekly BF2 session >_>

I was planning on opening up the dungeon in Nabudis too.

Bah.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Cetra

Eh, I tore though all the enemies there using Excalibur and the Masamune. Nothing really got more than two attacks off considering I was hitting everything there for 9999 with the Excalibur and around 4500 with the Masamune. Hell I usually just set my mage to attack everything with Scathe for 9999 dmg as well since Charge gives you virtually unlimited mana. Scathe also has a nice side effect of locking down enemy attacks while the animation is playing.

Unfortunately, I don't have the Excalibur yet and I don't think I'll ever get it since it seems like quite a hassle for something weaker than the Tournesol (hitting 9999). Spells in general are a bad idea against anything other than 'steels because you end up getting freezing all the actions while spells go off. This doesn't stop physical attackers from attacking, though, as I've used Scathe on a mixed Hecteye/Abysteel groups. While it freezes the one casting Thundaga, any enemies focused on attacking physically will simply keep moving.

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Arise has an instant animation. We're talking milliseconds of different between Arise and a phoenix down. Arise also brings them back up to full HP, so you aren't having to tie up two party members like you do when using a phoenix down + curaja. I found using phoenix downs way too dangerous because there is a high probability your other team member is locked into a cooldown and now you are dealing with a 3rd party member with low HP.

Curaja hits on multiple party members, and in the rare circumstances where what you described occurs, they get hit by the Curaja that had been in the waiting while the phoenix down was used to revive the character. I don't have to worry about any damage in that time because it'll be 2 characters healing while the revived party gets back on their feet.

Note that this doesn't apply to the Reverse+Lure trick, as that would kill them if they still had reverse on.

And you animation comment applies just as well to Phoenix Down... except that items have faster "cast" times than spells. Arise has let me down quite a few times as even when I've set it as the primary gambit, the game gets to the "choose a party leader" question before they're revived (when Penelo dies). Of course she's already alive by the time I pick the leader, but this doesn't happen with Phoenix Downs in play.

Pylraster comes to mind. We'll just have to agree to disagree.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Two simple questions: I just arrived at Giruvegan. Roughly how "done", am I?

And: How long did it take you to beat the Pharos dungeon? I've heard it puts even the Snowfly Forest to shame...

Double Post:
Say, has anyone else used the Negalmuur auto-leveling trick? I thought I'd give it a try, and I must say, this is pretty cool. It isn't so good for gaining levels quickly, but LP and money? Hell yes. Especially now that I've set two of my party members to steal from the Ghasts that spawn. Pretty soon I'm going to have a ton of Paramina crossbows to sell, at G3330 each, not to mention all of that festering flesh, dark magicite, and float motes. And I didn't even have to watch the game. I went for a walk, did some other stuff, and the loop was still going by itself when I got back.

This really shows the true beauty of the gambit system, IMO.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek

Two simple questions: I just arrived at Giruvegan. Roughly how "done", am I?

Almost done, though that depends on how long takes you to finish...

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And: How long did it take you to beat the Pharos dungeon? I've heard it puts even the Snowfly Forest to shame...

The Pharos @ Ridorana. You're going to hate that place, simply because it was far too long.

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Double Post:
Say, has anyone else used the Negalmuur auto-leveling trick? I thought I'd give it a try, and I must say, this is pretty cool. It isn't so good for gaining levels quickly, but LP and money? Hell yes. Especially now that I've set two of my party members to steal from the Ghasts that spawn. Pretty soon I'm going to have a ton of Paramina crossbows to sell, at G3330 each, not to mention all of that festering flesh, dark magicite, and float motes. And I didn't even have to watch the game. I went for a walk, did some other stuff, and the loop was still going by itself when I got back.

This really shows the true beauty of the gambit system, IMO.

Never tried it as the Deadbones leveling is a bit mroe involved but the rewards and money are even better.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

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Almost done

Seriously? Damn, if you remove all of the leveling and mark hunts, the actual body of the game itself is surprisingly short. That's really disappointing, because I didn't want it to end this soon. If you could just run through the game and not have to level or hunt monsters, the actual gameplay time would probably be shorter than even Chrono Trigger's.

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Never tried it as the Deadbones leveling is a bit mroe involved but the rewards and money are even better.

I dunno. I'm going to leave the Stillshrine with over 400,000 gil in loot. I've already killed several thousand enemies. According to the guide I looked at, I'm earning 216000 EXP per hour. You can earn more elsewhere, I'm sure, but when you consider the fact that this way, the game is running on full-auto pilot, (which means zero effort from me, and no time wasted in front of the TV) the Negalmuur method looks a lot nicer.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek

Seriously? Damn, if you remove all of the leveling and mark hunts, the actual body of the game itself is surprisingly short. That's really disappointing, because I didn't want it to end this soon. If you could just run through the game and not have to level or hunt monsters, the actual gameplay time would probably be shorter than even Chrono Trigger's.

Yeah, I'm not joking. After Giruvegan, you've got to do the Pharos @ Ridorana and then... well, that's the penultimate dungeon. The "story" side of the game is very short, but it makes up for it by having oodles of gameplay time. This is one game where people can't complain it's a movie.

I have the LE version of the game and in one of the interviews they basically said you're playing an incomplete game. You can see where they could'ved elaborated more on various points, developed some characters some more, etc...

It's a testament to the VA and story that it's still a very good game. Mind you, I haven't entered the final dungeon yet. I'm trying to complete this game as thoroughly as possible.

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I dunno. I'm going to leave the Stillshrine with over 400,000 gil in loot. I've already killed several thousand enemies. According to the guide I looked at, I'm earning 216000 EXP per hour, with zero effort aside from the initial setup!

Hmm, each Deadbones run (about 41 skeles) @ 3,196 exp each gives you about 131,000. 10 runs and you've leveled at least twice, even at the highest levels since you never actually need 1m points to level. Ancient Bones and Blood Darkened Bones drop in packs of 3-4 per monster once you start chaining them. Not as easy as Negalmuur, but it's almost laughable at how early you can get there and jump 20-30 levels.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Incomplete is right. What a big let down. They didn't even go into any detail about the nature of the Rozzarian empire, something that I've really wanted to know about. They must not be that bad, though. You can tell because whenever someone says 'The Empire" it always refers to Archadia. There are no references to Rozzaria invading or otherwise subjugating other lands, either.

But we can never know for sure, because so much is left unelaborated!

I was speaking idiomatically.